Multi-lumen catheters are commonly used for procedures requiring access to the vascular system and the extracorporeal treatment of blood. Procedures may include for example apheresis or hemodialysis. During these types of procedures, blood is aspirated from the vascular system, treated and returned to the vascular system through an infusion lumen. Treatments might include for example a blood component separation process, where only certain blood components are returned to the body, or a blood filtering process, where blood is continuously filtered through a closed loop circuit.
Medical professionals often prefer the use of implantable ports for accessing the vascular system since they are completely indwelling. Implantable ports may be advantageous over catheters since ports are hidden from view, are often more desirable for patients with active lifestyles, and can minimize the risk for infection, especially in patients that require more chronic care. Ports are typically implanted in the chest and connected to a catheter having a tip positioned at the point of treatment. The catheter tip is most commonly positioned at the junction of the superior vena cava and the right atrium. Ports can have one or more reservoirs in fluid communication with one or more lumens of the catheter. A needle-penetrable and self-sealing septum covers the reservoir, and the reservoir can be accessed with a needle. The needle can be used for infusing or aspirating fluid to and from the tip of the catheter.
Multi-reservoir port systems are generally known, and often used in practice for procedures where it is desirable to have multi-reservoir and multi-lumen access to the vascular system. Procedures may, for example, require the administration of different fluids through separate reservoirs, or an administration of fluid through one reservoir and aspiration through a separate reservoir. However, for high flow rate procedures utilizing conventional port systems, specifically those procedures automated by machine for powering aspiration and infusion, pressure alarms are commonly set-off, warning of high intraluminal pressures in the device that could potentially injure the patient. Further, these conventional multi-reservoir systems tend to be bulky, adding to the discomfort of the patient. An additional downfall of conventional multi-reservoir designs is that they are provided with catheters having distal openings terminating at the same point along the catheter shaft. These conventional port catheter designs would be inefficient for a high flow rate procedure since this catheter tip configuration would lead to high blood recirculation rates. It is therefore desirable to have an improved performance multi-reservoir port system that can optimize flow dynamics to support high flow applications.